No matter the experience of the people who’ve reached out or received support for any mental health or addiction service across South Canterbury, Te Whatu Ora wants to hear about it through its new survey.

The Kahanui Wellbeing Project has health representatives working side-by-side with mana whenua and members of the community to design a comprehensive survey asking consumers and their whānau about their interactions with all mental health and addiction services in South Canterbury.

With the launch of the survey in the community, Project Lead Maree Guerin hopes the feedback can provide information on what the community needs to receive the best support in this complex area of healthcare.

“In my nursing career, I’ve had numerous serious conversations with whānau, but I find that many families who require mental health and addiction services support, carry the crisis and journey differently and we need to know more to support them as well as the people we are caring for.”

“We want to understand what is a system barrier, what is a society barrier and what is a self barrier, because all three are big players. This helps us understand where the need is in South Canterbury and what we can change or influence,” says Maree Guerin.

The Kahanui Wellbeing Project was set up two years ago with the idea to approach the survey from a consumer (takata whaiora), whānau and service quality perspective. Representatives of mana whenua came on board early as project co-designers and they’ve been joined by consumers, youth and other Te Whatu Ora staff all with varying backgrounds and experiences.

Like all members of the team, Juanita Vaszilyko of Arowhenua Whānau Services hopes to see the survey provide valuable feedback and thinks it could be a valuable tool elsewhere in New Zealand.

“This was an opportunity to co-design and work collectively so we all have the same information. I believe whānau Māori will benefit from this project and I want to support this kaupapa.”

The survey has been rigorously tested by the team and careful consideration give to the questions and how they should be presented.

The survey is available here or via Te Whatu Ora South Canterbury website.

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